If there is one truth about the McCaskey family as owners? They’re stubborn as hell. This is a family that sticks to their traditions when it comes to how they run the Chicago Bears organization. Even if fans want something and chant for it up and down every week, they aren’t going to bow to public pressure. Even if there is plenty of evidence to suggest they should. As is often the case, it takes fans a long time to figure out how to truly get their attention.
By no longer spending money on the product. It seems they finally figured it out on Sunday. Faced with a 4-7 team against the NFC-leading Arizona Cardinals, several fans didn’t even bother showing up. Estimates at kickoff were that somewhere around 40,000 people were inside Soldier Field. Not a great look when the seating capacity is around 61,000. Yet somehow it got even worse at halftime. With the Bears trailing 21-3, it appears several fans decided it was probably best to just go home.
Start of the 3rd quarter and either the restroom and concession lines are wrapped around the building or a lot of folks have headed for home.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) December 5, 2021
There won't be enough #Bears fans left in the stands for a "fire Nagy" chant.
— Dan Bernstein (@dan_bernstein) December 5, 2021
What else do the McCaskeys need to see? Maintaining the status quo with Nagy just because it’s the classy thing to do means nothing. This team is lifeless. It sorely needs a shot in the arm. Firing Nagy will send a message that what is happening right now won’t be tolerated anymore. Yet they refuse to do it. If that’s the case? Fine. Bears fans seem to have decided until something changes, they’re going to stop giving this ownership their hard-earned money.
Nothing gets the attention of an owner faster than the thought of losing money. As loyal as Bears fans can be, even they have limits. They’ve been subjected to this uninspiring show from Nagy for too long. Bad offense. Lacking discipline. Having no solutions to seemingly common sense problems.
Many of them could see this entire situation coming. They knew things were going south with Nagy as far back as last season. That six-game losing streak. The ugly showing the playoffs. The offense still being terrible. Most owners would’ve sensed that a change was probably the best thing for the franchise. Instead, McCaskey doubled down on his guy. He believed Nagy could get things turned around in 2021.
Now here the Chicago Bears are. Even worse than a year ago with greater problems across the roster than ever before. They had a chance to hit the reset button. Now they have to wait another five weeks to try again. Fans have every reason to feel frustrated. So rather than just grit their teeth and deal with it, they’ve decided to take a stand. No more precious revenue until ownership decides it wants to do something.
Especially with the Green Bay Packers up next week. Will another blowout at their hands finally shake the McCaskeys out of their stupor? Well, all the previous ones certainly didn’t. So maybe the combination of half-empty stadiums might help with that. History does show it is something that tends to hit the family where it hurts.
